Is it acceptable to rack wine off its lees before fermentation is complete? There is ~ 3" of sediment?!
Answers: I have 5 gal of stawberry wine with a sg of 1.025 the air lock is still bubbling nicely however there is almost 3 inches sediment and lees that have dropped out of the wine since it was transfered into the secondary 3 weeks ago. What is the chance the I will get off flavors from leaving the wine on the sediment or get a stuck fermentation from racking it?
Rack it about once a month until you see no more sediment and your wine is completely clear. I don't think you will get any noticeable off flavoring. i have never had a stuck fermentation from racking, it can actually be good to introduce a little oxygen since the yeast need it to live, not too much though, avoid excess splashing.
No Fermentation needs to be complete before the wine is racked because it will not accuire its full taste until its has fermented fully then it will aquire more taste as it sits.
Just chill out...it will settle out more.
go waste your time doing something more intresting then watching wine bubble. its probbly good for you to get out
As long as your suspended yeast is still active, as indicated by the bubbling airlock, you don't need to worry about stuck fermentation. I strongly recommend you rack the wine off the sediment as the dead (dormant) yeast will begin to impart off flavors. You will lose a little wine in the process but the increased quality more than makes up for the loss in volume.